Electrotype and process of making same.



Patented June 6, 1911.

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A. ELLIOTT & lM

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 8, 1901.

M. L. ELLIOTT, EXEGUTEIX 0F A. ELLIOTT, DEOD.

1 ELEGTROTYPE AND TROGEYSS 0F MAKING SAME.

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ELEGTROTYPE AND PROGBSS OP MAKING SAME.

. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 8, 1901. l 9,759 Patented June 6,1911.

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STATES lPATENT oFFicE.

ALEXANDER ELLIOTT AND nMICHAEL SHAEN, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OFCOLUMBIA; MARY LAVINIA ELLIOTT EXECUTRIX 0F SAID ALEXANDER ELLIOTT,

DECEASED.

ELECTBOTYPELALND PROCESS 0F MAKING SAME.

99&,705.

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, ALEXANDER ELLIOTT and MICHAEL SHAEN, citizens ofthe United States, residing at Washington, in the District of Columbia,have invented new and useful Improvements in Electrotypes and Processesof Making' the Same, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to electrotypes, and consists, first-in a processof backing copper or electrotype shells whereby a perfect electrotype isproduced much more expeditiously and at'considerably less expense thanby the processes now in vogue, and secondin the electrotype the productof the process.

The invention will be fully understo from the following description andclaims,

when taken in conjunction with the accomp anying. drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal-vertical section ofthe apparatus, whichweprefer to employ in 1carrying out our process; the same being shown withacopper shell on its heating plate, and with'its casting box open andholding a cast plate in itsvtop section. Fig.k

2 is a plan view ofthe same. Fig. 3 is a vdetail side elevation, partlyin section, illustrating by full lines the manner in which the castingbox is swung on the supporting frame, and, by brokenv or dotted lines,the

position which the` said" box is caused to mass.

Similar letters of reference, designate cor- I responding parts in allof the several views of the drawings.

In carrying out our improved process, the type, cut or other subject ofthe electrotype to be produced is first molded in wax, after the usual'manner, and the mold is then shaved, preferably through the medium of apower shaver, this with a' view of remov- Specication of Letters Patent.

Application led March B, 1901.

Patented J une 6, 1911.

serial No. 50,347.

ing the splurge of wax caused by the pressing of the type, cut or othersubject into the waXand leaving the plane surface of the mold smooth andlevel and eliminating all building up of the mold. The wax mold orimpression is then coated with powdered graphite, and immersed in anelectroplatin bat-h when a copper shell A will be deposite thereon.

We prefer t0 shave the mold with a power shaver as stated, because theshaving knife thereof, when properly set or adjusted, is enabled to makea perfectly true cut and leave the plane surface of the mold smooth andlevel, but it is obvious that `any other kind of shaver or meanscalculated to render the planel surface of the mold smooth and' llevel-z'.4 e., free from depressed portions, protuberances orunevennesses, may be employed. p 4

In backing the copper shell a plate of the required .thickness andcomposed of what is known as electrotype metal or other suitable metalis cast or otherwise produced, and the back side of the copper shell issoldered to the face thereof.

By virtue of the wax mold being provided as stated with a smooth'andlevel plane surface, the copper shell deposited thereon has a smooth andlevel back-side whichrests in a plane parallel to that o f the face ofits type or other subject. advantageous because when the backing plateis applied in the manner described, the shell is uniformly joined to andsupported throughout its area by`the backing plate` and is not liable to-buckleyincident to the setting of the two kinds of metal, 'and formsinks or depressions in the face of the electrotype which would have tobe hammeredout by repeated blows applied to the back of the backingplate before the electroty e could be used. When the subject of t eelectrotype produced Ain accordance with our invention embodies no blankspaces of large size into which the paper would be liable to sag -inprinting, the improved electroty e is ready for use as soon as producedwit out furthertreatment, except the usual shaving of the back of thebacking plate. When, however, the subject of the improved electroty'peembodies blank spaces of such size that 4the paper would be liable tosag into same and be blackened lin-printing, depressions can be providedby routing out the This is materially blank spaces in the mannerordinarily practiced by electrotypers. -v

In the preferred embodiment of our invention the soldering of the coppershell to the plate of electrotype or other metal is accomplished asfollows, viz.; the plate which is lettered B, in' Figs. l, 6 and 7, istaken while in a heated state, and its face is brushed with muriateof'zinc or any other suitable'tlux, afterwhich a sheet of tin foillettered C in Fig.A 6 is applied to its face. By reason of the plate Bbeing heated as stated, the tin foil will spread over its tace and byvirtue of the flux'employed will adhere thereto. The inner or back sideof the copper shell'is brushed with muriate of zinc or any othersuitable tlux, and a sheet of tin :toil is applied to the same, afterwhich the shell is heated, when the tin foil will be melted and causedto adhere thereto. Such sheet of tin foil is lettered D in Fig. 6, andafter its application to the shell in the manner described, the cupsofthe letters or other matter on the shell vare lilled by pouring moltenelectrotype or other suitable metal therein; such metal being indicatedby E in Fig. 6. The tinned face of the cast plate B, and the back sideof the copper shell to which the tin foil D and electrotype metal E areapplied, are then brought together while all are still in a heatedstate, and are subjected to suicient pressure to hold the shelll rmly onthe plate until the solder employed to ee'ct the union of plate andshell is set,

when a perfectly straight and true electrotype will be the result.

It will be appreciated from the foregoing that our process of backing a'copper shell and producing an'electrotype is very simple andexpeditious, and is much cheaper than the process now commonlypracticed, because it obviates the necessity of building up the mold toproduce depressions in the shell and in fact could not -be practiced ifthe shell were produced on a built up mold on account of theprotuberances which such a shell would present to the backing plate,because it removes the necessity'of hammering the electrotype to clearit of imperfections caused by pouring molten electrotype metal on thethin copper shell lto back the same which is the practice extant, andbecause the electrotype produced is ready for use without .furthertreatment except the usual shaving of the back of plate and, when thevsubject of the electrotype embraces large blank spaces, the routingoutof said blank spaces usually 'resorted to. It will also be appreciated,that in the electrotype the.

product of our process, the plate B, sheets ofk tin foil C, D, andelectrotype metal E, are fused or blended into oneness, and'form c asolid backing for the 'copper shell which will enable all parts of thesame to Withstand .greater pressure.

.in any other manner suitableto thepurposes of our invention withoutdeparting from the .spirit thereof.

The apparatus which we prefer to employ in carrying out our improvedprocess comprises a main frame a, a heating plate b arranged thereonover .hydrocarbon burners c, or any other suitable heater, and a castingbox d. The casting box comprises, in turn, a bottom section e havingtrunnions f journaled in the frame, and adapted to rest, when in itshorizontal position, on a cross bar g ot' the frame and flush with theheating plate b, a top section /L loosel connected to the bottom sectionand a' apted when the box isopened as shown in Fig. l,

to rest on a braclret'z' projecting from the frame, posts j'rising fromthe' bottom section, a cross bar s pivotally connected to one of theposts j and having a hook Z adapted to be swung into engagement with theother post j, and a hand screw m bearing in a threaded aperture in thecross bar k and adapted to be turned down on the top section L of thebox when the same is closed, as

shown, whereby it is enabled to hold the said plate in the section h.

In addition to the elements named, the apparatus is provided with atransverse shaft g Which is equipped with stops 7 for engagingthe'bottom of the box and holding the same in a horizontal position, anda hand lever s through the medium of which the stops are thrown out ofAengagement with the box so as to permit of the latter being swung onthe frame after the manner indicated by full and broken lines in Fig. 3.

1n operating the apparatus and carrying out our improved process, asuitable flux such as muriate of zinc, and a sheet of tin foil areapplied in the order named to the back or inner side of the shell, andsaid shell is placed on the late b, when the heat imparted to it will met the tin foil. While the casting box d is in the position shown bybroken lines in Fig. 3, sufficient rmolten metal to form a plate such as.B in Fig. 1, is poured therein, and then when the cast metal is cooledsuHicient-ly `to permit of the box being opened, said box is swung inthe direction indicated by arrow iii-Fig'. .3, bac-lr on the cross bar gof the frame, and' is thenv being engaged by the vclip fn.. Muriate ofzinc or any other suitable flux is applied t0 the face of the plate B,together with a sheet of tin foil, when thev latter will be melted bythe heat retained in the plate and caused to spread over and adhere tothe face of the same. Molten electrotype metal is poured on the tinnedcopper shell so as to fill the cups of the letters or other matterthereof, and with this done the copper shell is mved from the heatingplate I) over on the bottom section c of the casting bdX', and the boxis then closed, and the sec` tion l1. is pressed down on section e,through the medium of screw m sufficiently to hold the plate Z) firmlydown on the copper shell until the tinned surfaces of the shell andplate set, when the electrotype is removed.

It will be observed from the` foregoing that the heat retained in thecast plate B is utilized. to melt the tin foil app-lied to said plate,and that this simplifies the process and renders the same veryexpeditious'since it obviates the necessity of reheating the plate forthe purpose stated. It Will also be observed that in accordance of ourprocess and with the aid of our apparatus a perfect electrotype may beexpeditiously produced with but a minimum amount of effort on the partof the attendant of the apparatus.

By virtue of the copper or electrotype shell having a flat back, due tothe plane surface of the mold employed, when the backing plate ispressed down on the shell in the lmanner described, the shell is heldperfectly flat, a good union is effected between the flat back side ofthe shell and the flat face of the plate, and the shell is efectuallyprevented from buckling.

We have entered into a detail description of the preferred embodiment ofour invention, in order to impart a. full, clear and exact understandingof the same. We do not desire, however, to be understood as confiningourselves tol the specific' materials lemployed or the relativearrangement of the same, as such changes or modifications may be made inpractice as fairly fall Within the scope of our claims.

Having described our invention, what We claim. and desire to secure'byLetters-Patent, is:

1. The process of producing an electrotype which consists in molding thesubject mat-ter of the electrotype to be produced in Wax, rendering theplane surface of the wax mold smooth and level, forming an.electrotype-shell on the mold having the smooth and level plane surfaceby electro-deposition,

vfilling the cups of the letters or other matside of the shell, heatingthe shell, filling I the cups of the letters of other matter of theshell With molten metal, heating a metallic backing plate, applying tinand a flux tothe plate, ,and brmging the back side of the shell and theface of the plate together and subjecting them to pressure While in aheated state.

3. The process of producing an electrotype which consists in molding thesubject matter of the electrotype to be produced in wax or othersuitable material, rendering the plane surface of the mold perfectlysmooth and level, depositing metal on the said mold and therebyproducing an electrotype shell having a smooth and level back side whichrests in a plane parallel to that of the face of the subject matter ofthe shell, and oining the back side of the shell to the face of ametallic backing plate through the medium of metal which is interposedbetween the shell and the plate at all points throughout the areathereof.

4. The process of producing an electrotype which consists in producin anelectrotype-shell having al flat back si e, casting a metallic backingplate, and joining the fiat back side of the shell to the face of theplate by solder While the said plate retains a portion of the heat dueto the casting thereof.

In testimon whereof We have hereunto set our hands 1n prese-nce of. twosubscribing- Witnesses.

ALEXANDER ELLIOTT. MICHAEL SHAEN.

Witnesses:

ORA A. BRADY, Gno. JOHANNES.

